Storm of Hearts
by Chesirecat13
Summary: this is a prequel to a story I'm gonna write, called Ace of Storm


Chapter One He gazed sadly at the nine year old girl, who stared angrily at him with eyes the gold of molten sun. Her skin held the faint coloring of the sun and her hair was a pale ginger that fell in faint waves to her earlobes. Her left ear was peirced by a single silver loop, and her right with three silver zippers that looked as though she'd torn them off a pair of pants.  
He sighed, the kid didn't deserve this, neither did the unconscious six year old girl laying beside her. But it wasn't his place to decide who was sacrificed to the sea goddess. But this was different, this girl was like one of those legendary pirates who hadn't grown up yet. Wild, free and stuborn. He glanced at the six year old beside her, ignoring the growl he merited from the redhead. She was of average height for her age, with black curly hair and smooth porclain skin, had she been awake her eyes would've shown themselves to be a pale green. She wore a heavy skirt over a pair of tights, a hoddie over an heavy shirt, and he could see a white undershirt peeking out of her shirt. She would sink like a rock with all that on. However the nine year old wore a black tank top, loose, extremely lightwieght capris and no shoes. He gulped, what he was about to do would get him in trouble, but it was doubtful that the redhead had the strength to do it. He slit the ropes of both girls and pressed the knife into the redhaed's palm closing her hand around it. "When you hit the water, go for the girl and cut off everything but her undershirt and tights, okay?" at her nod he continued, "Then swim with her to the left and think of the name Red haired Shanks. It will force you to a better world, but I don't know much else." The redhead nodded, and he threw her in, followed by the other. "Goddbye, lovelies." He muttered, watching as the redhead dove back under like a fish.

She felt the salty water burn her eyes, but kept them open until she reached the girl. She blinked and cut the hoodie off, noticing immediately how much lighter she felt, she cut the skirt and the shirt off next, wishing she could sigh in relief of how much lighter the girl was, when she only wore tights and an undershirt. She swam to the left dragging the girl with her, forcing herself to think of Red-Haired Shanks as she'd been told. She kept swimming till she was forced to surface. She heard yells and swam in that direction, taking the girl with her. There was a splash and an arm went around her waist and the girl was removed from her grasp.  
"Easy kid, you'll make it." a voice said, and she went limp, weakly helping the man who supported her exhausted frame. Then he handed her up to someone and she was wrapped in a thick blanket. Shivering she looked around at what appeared to be a pirate crew on a pirate ship. "Wha..ngh." she fell unconscious. ...  
"Poor lassies, who would've let them fall overboard like that. It's lucky Shanks found them and brought them here." a voice clucked softly. The redhead winced letting out a soft moan. There was a gasp and something cold touched her lips. Startled she whipped her handup and stabbed something. Water splashed over her body. There was a loud burst of male laughter and a woman's snickering. She opened her eyes, glaring irritatedly at the inhabitants of the room. "Eyes like liquid gold you have." the woman said, looking at her with warm brown eyes. The man standing in the doorway caught her interest. He had red hair and there were three scars on his face. "Who?" she trailed off and sat up looking for the other girl. "I'm Red-Haired Shanks. Your friend is getting something to eat." the man said briskly, blinking at the snarl that came from the girl's throat once she realized the girl wasn't in sight.  
"Where at?" she growled, crawling from the bed. The woman let out a low cluck.  
"Uh uh, missy. Where you be goin'?" she crossed her arms, glaring down at the redhead.  
"My name is Storm, and I'm going to go get my 'friend', do you have a problem with that?" the nine year old retorted coldly, seeming more like an adult than a child.  
Shanks grinned, his eyes filled with amusement. The woman scowled her disaproval. Storm glared up at them both.  
"Second room to the right." Shanks said after a moment. Storm's eyes widened and she ran out the door. 


End file.
